Embrace Everything - The World of Gustav Mahler
Aaron Cohen
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The Embrace Everything podcast series is an exploration and celebration of the music of Gustav Mahler. Throughout his life, Mahler insisted that music had to, literally, embrace everything. This makes his compositions unusually rich in what they offer both audience and musicians. Each season will explore a different Mahler symphony and include interviews with leading conductors, music scholars and musicians. Additionally, Mahler’s own words and those of his contemporaries will be read by actors.
Available episodes
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Jul 7, 2021
Movement Five – With Wings I’ve Won for Myself
Mahler described the last movement of his Second Symphony, which includes two soloists and a chorus, as a colossal fresco of The Day of Judgement. All of humanity meets its maker, and Mahler stretches his musical wings, soaring to glorious heights.
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Jul 7, 2021
Movement Four – O Little Red Rose
The fourth movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony is a delicate song for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. It’s a turning point in the symphony, where the protagonist’s spiritual wisdom blossoms.
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Jul 7, 2021
Movement Three – Never Did a Sermon So Please the Fish
In the summer of 1893, Mahler wrote a song, entitled “St. Anthony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fish.” It turned out so well, he incorporated melodies from it into the third movement of his Second Symphony.
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Jul 7, 2021
Movement Two – A Sunbeam into Your Soul
For his Second Symphony, Mahler created a second movement he described as a memory, “a ray of sunlight, pure and cloudless, out of the hero’s life.” The music is bittersweet.
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Jul 7, 2021
Movement One – A Burning Denunciation of the Creator
Mahler’s Second Symphony begins with the funeral for the hero of his First Symphony. The dramatic music rages with sorrow and anger...but also hope, for life after death.
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Jun 23, 2021
Season 2 – Rise Again - Mahler's Second Symphony
Season 2 focuses on Mahler’s Second Symphony in C minor (1894), delving into Mahler’s gigantic musical exploration of life, death, and what lies beyond. Each episode is devoted to a movement of the symphony. Guests include conductors Kent Nagano and Michael Tilson Thomas; principal musicians of the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; and scholars from Columbia and Oxford Universities.
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Jul 6, 2020
Movement Four – The Battle of Fate
Gustav Mahler originally titled his First Symphony “Titan,” because of the mighty struggle between his hero and fate, a monumental battle that reaches its climax in the fourth movement.
Guests include Michael Tilson Thomas (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony), William Hudgins (Principal Clarinet, Boston Symphony Orchestra), Jennifer Montone (Principal Horn, Philadelphia Orchestra), Marilyn McCoy (Columbia University), and Christine Lee Gengaro (Los Angeles City College). James Lurie is the voice of Mahler and Laura Gragtmans is the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.
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Jul 6, 2020
Movement Three – The Huntsman’s Funeral
Early audiences found the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony grotesque, macabre and unsettling. Inspired by an engraving entitled “The Huntsman’s Funeral,” Mahler juxtaposes death with humor, incorporating a popular children's melody—a brilliant touch that still delights and spooks audiences today.
Guests include William Hudgins (Principal Clarinet, Boston Symphony Orchestra), Dominic Seldis (Principal Bass, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Marilyn McCoy (Columbia University), Philip V. Bohlman (University of Chicago), and Christian Glanz (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna). James Lurie is the voice of Mahler and Laura Gragtmans is the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.
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Jul 6, 2020
Movement Two – All Music Proceeds from the Dance
In the second movement of his First Symphony, Gustav Mahler draws upon the dance music of his youth. As his mood becomes more exuberant, so too, does the music.
Guests include Michael Tilson Thomas (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony), Kent Nagano (Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic), Marilyn McCoy (Columbia University), Philip V. Bohlman (University of Chicago), and Christian Glanz (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna). James Lurie is the voice of Mahler and Laura Gragtmans is the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.
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Jul 6, 2020
Movement One – Isn’t This a Splendid World?
Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony is the story of a young man beginning his journey through life. In fact, it is Mahler himself, looking at the world with wide-eyed wonder. Originally, he titled the first movement “Spring Without End,” for its depiction of the joys of nature.
Guests include Michael Tilson Thomas (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony), Kent Nagano (Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic), William Hudgins (Principal Clarinet, Boston Symphony Orchestra), Marilyn McCoy (Columbia University) and Caroline Kita (Washington University in St. Louis). James Lurie is the voice of Mahler and Laura Gragtmans is the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.
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Jun 10, 2020
Introducing Embrace Everything - The World of Gustav Mahler
Season 1 focuses on Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major (1888), taking listeners back to the work’s origins in the street songs, folk tunes and bugle calls of Mahler’s childhood. Each episode is devoted to a movement of the symphony. Guests include conductors Kent Nagano and Michael Tilson Thomas; principal musicians of the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam; and scholars from Columbia University and the University of Chicago.
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